In early 1748, a sixteen-year-old George
Washington set out on a surveying trip with George Fairfax
to plot some lands owned by Fairfax's uncle,
Thomas Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the
Northern Neck of Virginia. Lord Fairfax wanted accurate surveys made of his
numerous
properties. One of the tracts that George Washington
plotted for Fairfax was on the Long Marsh and Cate's
Marsh in old Frederick County. As part of the
survey, Washington noted the names of the chain carriers, the marker, and
the pilot. The pilot was William Lindsey.
While we can't be certain that William Lindsey, the pilot, was a
member of the Long Marsh Lindsey family, the facts suggest
that he might have been one of ours. According to
Thomas Kemp Cartmell's book (page
26) on Shenandoah Valley pioneers, George Washington
frequently chose adjoining landowners as members of the
survey crew. Additionally, pilots were
usually men who knew the area well, and it seems a Long
Marsh Lindsey man would have been quite suitable for the
job. Records show that a man named
William Lindsey lived
in the area, and he seems to have been part of the Long
Marsh family that has been identified as ancestral to the
Group 2 Lindsey's. |
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Young George Washington kept a diary of his survey trip.
The images to the right are from Washington's diary entry
on March 15, 1748. The first page details the tract
boundaries on Cate's Marsh and Long Marsh, while the
second page ends with the names of the chain carriers,
marker, and pilot. Two of the men named as part of
the survey crew were Henry and Robert Ashby, sons of
Captain Thomas Ashby of Frederick County. Robert
Taylor, a chain carrier on the survey, was listed in
Cartmell's book (page
26) as a Frederick County resident who had been chosen
by George Washington to join his survey crews. William
Lindsey, named on the second page as the survey pilot, was
also a likely resident of Frederick County.
Diary source: George Washington
Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 1b.
George Washington, Diary, March 11 - April 13, 1748.
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Click
here for source site of the diary pages shown above. |
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Washington's diary (excerpted below) mentioned that they
had spent the night at Isaac Pennington's before
surveying the land on the Long Marsh and Cate's Marsh.
Coincidentally, it was William Lindsey who had gone to
court in 1742 to record a
deed for land that John
Lindsey Sr. bought from Isaac Pennington. Read
more about William Lindsey, pilot, below. |
A map (image is on the right) taken from William
Thorndale's manuscript
on the Long Marsh Lindsey's shows that Cate's Marsh was
less than a mile from land owned by the Lindsey's on the
Long Marsh. So it seems quite likely that William
Lindsey, the pilot for George Washington's survey trip,
might have been one of our Group 2 Lindsey's.
It is exciting to think that our ancestor may have
rubbed elbows with the father of our country. After
reading about George Washington's sleeping quarters as
Pennington's guest (in the diary excerpt, below), I have
wondered if the living conditions might have been similar at the nearby
Lindsey's! |
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Below is more excerpted from Washington's
diary:
http://www.bicyclingthroughhistory.com/d3ref3.html
The first entries in George Washington's Diaries follow :
- Fryday March 11th 1747(8). Began my Journey in Company
with George Fairfax, Esqr. [eight years older than George
Washington], we travell'd this day 40 miles to Mr. George
Neavels in Prince William County
- Saturday March 12th This Morning Mr. James Genn ye,
surveyer [he had previously surveyed Lord Fairfax's South
Branch and Greenway Court Manors; this expedition was to
subdivide some of those territories into lots to be leased
to tennants] came to us we travell'd over ye. Blue Ridge to
Capt. [John] Ashbys on Shennondoah River, Nothing remarkable
happen'd
- Sunday March 13 Rode to his Lordships Quarter [Greenway
Court] about 4 Miles higher up y. River we went through most
beautiful Groves of Sugar Trees and spent ye. best part of
y. Day in admiring ye. Trees and richness of ye Land
- Monday 14th We sent our Baggage to Capt. [Jost] Hites
(near Frederick Town [Winchester] ) went ourselves down ye
River about 16 miles to Capt. Isaac Penningtons
(the Land exceeding Rich and Fertile all ye. way produces
abundance of Grain Hemp Tobacco &ca.) in order to lay of
some Lands on Cates Marsh and Long Marsh
- Tuesday 15th We set out early with Intent to Run round
ye sd. Land but being in a Rain and it Increasing very fast
obliged us to return it clearing about one oClock and our
time being too Precious to Loose we a second time ventur'd
out and Worked hard till Night and then we returned to
Penningtons we got our Supper and was lighted into a
Room and I not being so good a Woodsman as ye rest of my
Company striped myself very orderly and went in to ye Bed as
they called it when to my Surprize I found it to be nothing
but a Little Straw-Matted together without Sheets or
anything else but only one thread Bear blanket with double
its Weight of Vermin such as Lice Fleas &c I was glad to get
up (as soon as y. Light was carried from us) I put on my
cloths and Lay as my Companions. Had we not been very tired
I am sure we should not have slep'd much that night I made a
Promise not to Sleep so from that time forward chusing
rather to sleep in y. open Air before a fire as will appear
hereafter.
- March y. 15th. Surved'd for George Fairfax Esqr. a Tract
of Land lying on Cates Marsh and Long Marsh. [Henry Ashby
and Robert Taylor were chainmen; Robert Ashby was the
marker; William Lindsy was pilot] [Surveyor's notes
and measurements omitted]
- Wednesday 16th We set out early and finish'd about one
oClock and then Travell'd up to Frederick Town where our
Baggage came to us we cleaned ourselves (to get Rid of y.
Game we had catched y. Night before) and took a Review of y.
Town and thence return'd for us Wine and Rum Punch in Plenty
and a good Feather Bed with clean Sheets which was a very
agreeable regale
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To the left
is an image of a 1750 survey that George Washington did
for John Lindsey Sr.,
Long Marsh pioneer and ancestor to some of our Group 2
Lindsey's. The tract of land was on the
Great Cacapon River, which lay in Frederick Co., VA at
the time, but is now in Hampshire Co., WV.
Here are links to more information:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gwmaps.html
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc109.2.jpg |
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Another reference to William Lindsey, the pilot states
that the survey of Cate's Marsh and the Long Marsh was
part of a more extensive survey trip. It says that
William led a survey party into the upper Potomac
wilderness:
..."in 1747, he sent young George
Washington, and his nephew, William Fairfax, to survey
and locate these lands. The boy surveyors crossed the
Blue ridge; William Lindsey piloted them into the Upper
Potomac wilderness; Henry Ashby and Richard Taylor were
chainmen, and Robert Ashby, marker. More than three
hundred tracts were surveyed and thus it was that the
leader of the American armies in the Revolution and the
first President of the United States, surveyed the first
farms in West Virginia..." Click on the image to
the left to read more, and also for source information.
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